“Providing safe spaces for pedestrians to walk and cyclists to ride is vital. We identified that we had more than 100km of footpath missing links across the shire and we have made fixing them a priority in recent years,” Cr Sanderson said.

“These new footpaths will help connect nearby residential areas to the Wallan business district and will encourage people to leave the car in the driveway and get out about and be active around town.

“The works will also complement the wonderful Wallan Town Heart revitalisation, which is nearing completion, and make the High Street shopping precinct a far more connected and vibrant space.”

Further works to improve pedestrian and cyclist connections on Watson Street between High Street and Wellington Street are also planned at a later stage once VicRoads finalises plans for the area.

Community drop-in sessions will be held on Thursday 20 September 2018 at 10 to 11.30am at Wallan Library and 5 to 7pm at Wallan Multipurpose Community Centre.

Construction of the new footpaths is anticipated to begin in early 2019. For more information on the project, visit www.engagingmitchellshire.com/wallan-watsonst or contact Council’s Engineering Services team on 5734 6302.